


Affliction

by arigato_sasusaku



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Bonds, Canon, Canon-esque, Disease, F/M, Horror, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-06
Updated: 2015-09-06
Packaged: 2018-04-19 08:54:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4740398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arigato_sasusaku/pseuds/arigato_sasusaku
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tightly swallowing, Sakura finally looked up at him, voice unsteady and almost breathless, “Something terrible has happened here, Naruto.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Affliction

“I dont like this…”

He spoke quietly, almost as if aiming to match the eerie stillness of their surroundings. Naruto glanced slowly to his right, watching for a moment as the wilting, unharvested wheat bristled with the low wind. Beyond them, fields upon fields remained uncut; the harvest slowly drooping with rot as time dragged on. 

The land west to Ishikagure consisted of clusters of farmer’s towns - some as big as cities, some as small as a few huts by the side of the weathered path. It was well known that they supplied crops and harvest to most of the countries across the lands - wheat, fish, barley, even fruit sometimes. The citizens of the land were not governed by a Daimyo or Kage like elsewhere, every family was solitary and worked honesty for themselves, to keep food on the table and to live a comfortable life. 

Thus, it simply didnt make sense for all production to come to a halt. So when just that had happened, the remnants of Team 7 had been sent to investigate and resolve whatever issue was occurring. 

Neither of them had expected to find the first farming fields desolate and abandoned. Rubbing the tops of her arms to relieve the gooseflesh forming, Sakura murmured a reply, “Me neither.”. 

“We should ask someone what’s going on here,” Naruto said, turning to look at her with his best Hokage-candidate seriousness. Though, Sakura knew he wasnt practicing in front of a mirror this time. With a firm nod from Sakura, they continued. 

As they walked in silence, Sakura couldnt shake the shivers that lifted the hairs on her nape.

/  
/  
/

The first gate they came across was closed. 

“They’re really not making it easy for us,” chuckled Naruto, rubbing the back of his head as he wearily looked up at the planks that created the make-shift gate. Sakura hummed her agreement but could not share the small amusement that her teammate had felt. It seemed to be only a medium-sized town from the outside and so it struck odd to the kunoichi that a wall this tall had been erected. Usually, it was only hidden villages that would build something that actively filter its visitors but in a place where commerce was the livelihood…why would travelers be kept out? 

Plenty of boards and planks had fallen from the gate however, and it was clear they had not been the first to pass through regardless of their welcome. Sakura eyed the scene with a careful unease, noting the way leaves covered the worn paths through the makeshift entrances. 

Had no one come out the same way they went in? 

Naruto soon found an opening of which he swiftly ducked under - though catching his foot as he did so and nearly falling through. The commotion distracted Sakura from the ever growing mountain of unanswered questions budding in her mind and after rolling her eyes in amusement, she stepped through too; with a little more finesse, mind. 

“Careful, baka.” She murmured, almost second nature as he rose to his feet. 

“Its pretty quiet,” Naruto said, with a wide turn of his head surveying the area, “Konoha is never like this,” This was a huge understatement, Sakura thought. There was quite literally no one on the cobbled streets at all. 

“Weird,” Sakura commented, glancing up at the closed shuttered windows with a frown, “No one said anything about the villages being abandoned.” 

“Maybe they’re still here,” Naruto said, “Just hiding?” 

Before she could protest, Naruto had jogged off to a nearby building and pressed his face to the glass. Apprehension continued to bubble in the pit of her stomach and Sakura simply cant shake the feeling that something is terribly wrong. But she’s felt like this before many a time and she’s learnt that that deep settling of anxiety is sometimes just a side effect of being a nin. 

When Naruto starts to crane his neck to catch a better glimpse of inside, Sakura walks over, “Anything?”. 

“Ne, its pretty dark.” He frowns, squinting. 

“Its locked, huh.” Sakura murmurs in thought, mind beginning to wander once more. 

“Oh.” As if it hadnt crossed his mind yet, Naruto pushed down the door handle and when it stiffly opened, looked back at Sakura with a small grin. Sakura returned the smile with a flat look of exasperation. 

Stepping inside, the pair were immediately struck with the sight of a dusty, dimly lit interior of a green grocers - the vegetation in the aisles weeping liquid and many were just a pile of brown/black flesh in their baskets. Wrinkling her nose, Sakura pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. 

The stench of rot was overpowering. 

Sleeping bags and blankets littered the floor, among piles of rubbish - paper, jars, empty food packets. “It looks like people have been camping here,” Naruto commented, muffled through his own fingers. His teammate simply nodded in reply before disappearing quietly down an aisle. 

Naruto bent down on one knee, glancing around the belongings left on the dirty floor. When his gaze caught on a stuffed toy poking out from under a blanket, the nin slowly took his hand from his mouth and reached out for it. The bear’s head lulled as he tugged, one button eye near hanging from its string. For a split second, Naruto wondered if the little person who owned this was sad that had left it behind. He didnt have too much as a kid but the little he did have was protected with clumsy fists and a very loud mouth. Pulling it fully from beneath the navy blanket, the mild resistance he had previously felt slackened. 

And with the bear, fell a tiny arm, hitting the dusty floor with a small thud. Lifeless. 

Naruto reeled backwards with an alarmed yelp, dropping the bear and falling back off his knees, landing with a crash. Wide eyes stung as he stared at the chubby, discoloured arm that lay in front of him, the rest of the child disguised by the blanket. It wasnt longer before Sakura was hurtling into sight, enquiring about if he was okay. 

Naruto shook his head once, eyes narrowing as his jaw clenched, “There’s a… There’s someone under the blanket,”.

Sakura slowly looked from him to the tiny hand that laid a few feet in front of her. For a moment, she stood there looking at the little fingers which had closed into a fist, coloured by a sullen green, yellow. 

It took a few seconds for Naruto stand after realising he was surrounded by a number more blankets. He wasnt sure if any one else was hidden underneath them, but he didnt want to find out. With adrenaline thrumming through his veins with no where to go, Naruto watched Sakura with quiet dread as she lifted the blanket for only her to see what was beneath.

As soon as she did, a hand rose to her mouth and she dropped the material once more - the silhouette of a tiny body suddenly all the more obvious. Sakura with her eyes closed and brows pulled tight, took in a heavy breath. 

Tightly swallowing, Sakura finally looked up at Naruto, voice unsteady and almost breathless. 

“Something terrible has happened here, Naruto.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm a little out of touch with long fic writing but I thought I'd give it a go as I've pretty much got 80% of this fic planned out in my head already.   
> I'd absolutely adore any reviews or comments or anything simply because I dont really know how ok i am and I really appreciate pointers or just simple compliments. They literally mean the world, its insane. But yeah, lemme know what you think so far?


End file.
